About Noosa Parks Association

Management Committee 2008/2009

At the end of 1962, when the Noosa Parks Association was formed, the only area set aside to protect the diverse landscapes and ecosystems of Noosa and Cooloola was the pocket-handkerchief-sized Noosa National Park. However, the whole of the coastline from Rainbow Beach to the mouth of the Noosa River, covering more than 65,000 hectares, has now been reserved as national park and the Noosa National Park has itself been extended to cover several thousand hectares. This is a phenomenal achievement and says much for the tenacity of the members of the Noosa Parks Association who were faced with one problem after another as they pursued their conservation objectives. 

 First, there was the need to overcome the determination of the Noosa Shire Council to build a motor road around the seaward edge of the Noosa National Park, a road that they saw as facilitating construction of a luxury hotel in Alexandria Bay. And this was followed soon afterwards by applications for extensive sand mining leases over the giant dunes of the Cooloola sand mass. In both cases it soon became obvious that nothing short of national park protection could obviate exploitation of these areas, so the Association's policy became necessarily directed towards promoting that outcome. 

 Initially mining was by far the greatest threat to Noosa's environment. As well as the applications for mining leases, which would have involved 8,000 hectares of the forested dunes, there were attempts to mine the sandy isthmus of Double Island Point; and other proposals for Alexandria Bay, and over a large area east of Lake Weyba. Although some mining did take place, its extent was minimal. The sustained activity of the Noosa Parks Association was able to keep it at that level, and eventually it led to the formation of the Cooloola and Lake Weyba National Parks.

By 1975, sand mining in the Noosa and Cooloola Shires had become virtually a dead issue, but other problems were claiming the attention of the Association, amongst which were real estate development, forestry activity and water extraction from the Cooloola sand mass. 

 Real estate development became an issue when well-heeled land developers began acquiring old freeholds for development, making applications that often exceeded what was permissible under existing town planning legislation.  Consequently, strong and effective representation in local government had to become one of the Association's early objectives. 

 The Association also embarked on a policy aimed at securing areas of unallocated State land for public ownership. Some of these, which included Keyser, Sheep and Goat Islands, have contributed greatly to the preservation of tidal wetlands within the estuary. 

 Successful campaigning was also responsible for securing two significant areas of heath land in the southern part of the Noosa Shire. One of these, namely the low-lying Emu Swamp at Peregian, was purchased by the State Government and added to the Lake Weyba section of the Noosa National Park in 1993, and the Marcus High Dunes Section was added in 2001. 

Owing to the Forestry Department's policy of replacing native forests with softwood plantations, there have been significant losses of rain forest and wallum vegetation In the Noosa and adjacent Shires. However, successful lobbying in 1980 persuaded the State Government to purchase alternative planting areas for exotic pines, making it possible for the western catchment of the Noosa River to be added to the Cooloola National Park. Some years later, the central forestry area in Cooloola was also added. 

 The future of the Tewantin State Forest is still under consideration but it is hoped that eventually   it will be permanently reserved as a conservation park.

 For many years the Noosa Parks Association has known of the existence of vast reserves of fresh water held within the fabric of the Cooloola sand mass and has been aware of the desire of the Cooloola Shire Council to gain approval for the use of this water to support its claims for a large population base in the Rainbow Beach/Tin Can Bay area. This matter has not yet been satisfactorily settled and could lead to unsustainable environmental pressures on the whole of the Cooloola/Noosa River complex. 

 For the first 17 years of its existence the Association necessarily spent most of its time endeavouring to protect Noosa's environment. That it has done so is now self-evident. But since then, with the emphasis gradually shifting towards increasing the public's awareness of the natural assets of the area, recreational activities have been added. These include bush-walking and extended outings, Bird and Botany Group activities and "Discovering Nature" sessions and are having a significant educational impact.